Tafakari ya Kitabu cha Kijivu
the addict would find from the start as much identification as each needed to convince himself that he could stay clean, by the example of others who had recovered for many years.
Gray Book, p. 133 (WE DO RECOVER, First Paragraph)
For many years addicts were dying, unnecessarily, from the disease of addiction. Addicts had no where to go, except for jails and institutions.
It was illegal for addicts to assemble or meet in public, even for the sake of Recovery. Many of us were forced to go to other fellowships or other places, for the sake of Recovery. Our identification as addicts was still not met, many of us continued to die.
Our disease is one of feelings and emotions, not the symptom, which is the use of drugs. When Narcotics Anonymous was started, addicts finally found somewhere they could identify with others. This identification was what made our Recovery possible.
One of the most powerful statements a newcomer can hear at Narcotics Anonymous meetings is the powerlessness and Surrender to the disease of addiction, from another addict. The First Chapter in the Basic Text; Who Is An Addict, talks about our first identification comes from our Life being centered in drugs. The powerlessness and unmanageability, the Living to use and using to Live.
The identification of the feelings from hopelessness and the isolation that came next. After seeing people like us staying Clean and finding a New Way to Live, we start to experience Hope, a Spiritual Principle long-lost for so many of us. We finally felt that we no longer had to use, we also, like so many, could stay Clean.
We finally found a place where we felt we belonged. We learned about the Spiritual Principle of Empathy, "That wordless language of recognition, belief and faith." For us, Empathy means, your pain in my Heart. As others Shared their Experience, Strength and Hope with us, we nodded our heads in approval and said, "Me too. " We finally were home.
Isolation which is at the center of our disease, began to disappear.
We became a part of a Whole. Our Basic Text says, "We become fully whole and wholly free. "
In This Moment: We will learn to identify and not compare with others. We will serve as examples of the Power that keeps us Clean. We share this Divine Gift, with all those who come after us.